Ordinary tote-bags suffer from a common problem when they are used to carry articles to and from sandy areas, such as a beach. In particular, when articles such as blankets, children's toys, clothing, or other items are used in sandy areas, they will generally tend to accumulate on their surface and in crevices, particles of sand and other debris. When these articles are stored away in ordinary tote-bags for transport home, the sand that has accumulated on the various articles will have a tendency to collect inside the tote-bag. For example, as damp articles dry, the sand accumulated thereon will have a tendency to drop off and collect at the bottom of the tote-bag.
Upon arriving at one's destination and unloading the content of the ordinary tote-bag, the sand that is accumulated therein will have the undesirable tendency to spill out of the bag, requiring time-consuming cleaning. With ordinary tote-bags, it is quite difficult to remove the sand from the inside of the tote-bag until all of the articles contained therein have been removed. Thus, in order to avoid spilling sand from the interior of the tote-bag, the user must remove the articles from the tote-bag outdoors, invert the bag to remove the sand, and then return the articles to the bag once this procedure has been completed. Significantly, however, even when this procedure is followed, sand may still be retained within a tote-bag and unintentionally brought indoors. For example, ordinary tote-bags often have many seams and compartments which trap sand and cause difficulty in removing it from the interior of the tote-bag. As a result, sand will remain in the tote-bag and will occasionally spill out when the tote-bag is transported or unpacked.
The prior art in tote-bags has included designs which partly alleviate the problem described above. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,833 to Cook. Cook discloses a plastic mesh bag which can be used as a beach bag. Among other things, the tote-bag disclosed in Cook would permit sand which has accumulated on articles to simply sift out of the bag as it is being carried. While solving the problem of sand accumulating in the tote-bag, Cook creates an additional problem in that sand which exits the bag through the mesh material from which it is made, will be deposited wherever the bag is carried or placed. Thus, if the bag is placed, for example, in an automobile, sand which drops from articles contained within the tote-bag of Cook will be deposited on the floor or trunk of the vehicle.
The present invention is designed to alleviate the problems found in tote-bags of the prior art, and provides a tote-bag capable of conveniently carrying various articles to and from a beach.